After the Cloth Hall & Belfry, our first stop in the afternoon was the St.Martin's Church. This is an episcopal Neo Gothic construction, as the rest of the city constructed after the First World War. On the altar here is Our Lady of Thuyne. In 1383, during a siege, the residents of Ypres prayed to her for protection and the armies left. So ever since then, an annual procession has been happening here. Doesn't that remind you of the story at Tournai?! The tower is a magnificient 100m. But climbing it isn't allowed. Our next stop was the very interesting St.George's Church, which is more of a British war memorial than a religious place, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. This is esp. for the relatives of the soldiers with no known graves, so they have a place to pay their respects. Everything here, including kneelers, stained glass windows, banners, plaques are dedicated and symbolize the various British regiments that fought the Great War. A short walk from here we were at Paradijsstraat (Paradise Street) which led to the parallel street to the main road. Did you guess already? Yes, its the yesteryear's red light area (yup, that's why 'paradise')!!! Now, a very decent, quite, residential neighborhood though! The end of this street led to the Ramparts. Our first stop was the Leeuwentoren (Lion's Tower), or rather the ruins of what's left of it. It dates to the 14th C and is of 13mt diameter. The tower's height was reduced during French era to use them as artillery platform. This is along the moat and the waterbody here is such a beauty. The land has protruding corners and manmade islands in the moats which is perfect for playing hide & seek with the enemy! Here is the Ramparts Cemetary, aka Lille Gate Cemetary. This is a commonwealth cemetery with 190 burials in it. This is the nearest war grave cemetary close to the city and this is one of the few cemeteries that have dedicated head stones to Maori tribes. Next to this is the Lille Gate. This is the only surviving gate of the 14th C fortification walls.
Next stop is the Kasematten Browerij which has been in existence since 2014. This is a part of the fortification which was used during the war as a dormitory for British troops as well as for storage of ammunition. Just beside it is a wooden horse affixed to the wall. Well, remember the medieval torture devices of Ghent Gravensteen Castle? Well, this is one. The back of this wooden horse is sharp edged and the punished one has to sit on it with sand bags tied to his legs!!! This is not an original though, just a recreation.Next we were at the Ice cellar. Ages ago, large freezers came into being, ice was stored here. During winter, the moat would be filled with ice which was brought here and stored. Its room is underground and has double brick wall which keeps the ice intact atleast till mid July! This was used to preserve meat and fish and was used also for medicinal purposes. Ice was covered with straw to preserve it longer. Our final stop was ofcourse, Menin Gate Memorial. This has the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who don't have a dedicated burial site. Every night at 8 PM the Last post ceremony happens here. Make sure to be here by atleast 7:30 if you want a place with good visibility of all sides. The ideal location would be on the Bollingstaart closest to the centre of Menin Gate till the railing.
To Stay:
Hotels & B&Bs at all price points are available in Ypres City Centre.
To Get There:
To Ypres (Ieper): Refer to my last post
On Google Maps:
Entry Fee & Timings:
My complete Ypres travelogue: coming soon.
P.S: I was invited by Ieper Tourism to experience the city for review purposes, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.
